“Play it again Sam". (Dimensions: 1800mm x 1800mm x 2000mm)

...We think we speak the English, or French, of today. But our English or French language of today is of yesterday and elsewhere. The miracle is that language has not been cut from its archaic roots -- even if we do not remember, our language remembers, and what we say began to be said three thousand years ago. Inversely language has incorporated our own times, before even we know, the most recent elements, linguistic and semantic particles blown by the present winds.

Hélène Cixous

This is an extract from a reader critiquing the ‘deconstruction’ movement from 1960’s France, now out of favor with many but still a favorite of academia. The term deconstruction suffers from the vagaries of language it seeks to examine, it seeks to ‘undo’ or to ‘analyze’ but the terms visual and perceptible similarities with the word destruction emphasizes the confusion in language which is a mainstay in perpetuating the narrative which gives rise to the sense of who and what we are.   

Within this confusion of language we use to construct the narratives and traditions we base our beliefs on, myth as well as fact becomes part of the narrative.

The expression “Play it again Sam” comes from the film “Casablanca” featuring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but Bergman never said the words ‘play it again Sam’, she said ‘play it Sam, play it’, but it is the myth which has become the reality and is used by even those who are aware of this inaccuracy.

The scattered piano keys suggest it is impossible to ‘play it again’, for anything to be played again the keys need to be in order, this points to the paradox in deconstruction as it needs to used the language it deconstructs with all its vagaries to pass on its ideology. Also in the piece are items like the hat and coat from Bogart’s famous detective films like ‘The Big Sleep’ which were never used in Casablanca but as the narrative develops over time, these items become associated with the memorized narrative constructed within the mind.

The constant tick of the metronome makes one very aware of time passing as the piece is viewed. This piece examines the importance of what is in the narrative and how it is constructed, as well as the overall importance of narrative and tradition.